Waters of Babylon: Short Stories

Stan Chung teaches English at the College of New Caledonia in Prince
George, B.C.

This volume of extremely short stories has a unique and important
premise: the experiences of Jews living in Baghdad during the 1940s.
Unfortunately, the stories provide few satisfying insights into this
fascinating time. The writing is clear and often entertaining, but the
work is merely an appetizer. The stories are written from the viewpoint
of Jewish children living in Iraq, which in itself is interesting, but
the collection serves only to whet the appetite for more substantial,
more sophisticated, more literary prose.